Automobile-tire.



A. H. FISHER. AUTOMOBILE TIRE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 25, 1912.

Patented Dec. 9, 1913.

VVITNESSES ATTO R N EY ALBERT H. FISHER, 0F LNCOILN, NEBRASKA.

AUTOMOBILE-TIRE.

Continuation of application Serial No. 622,098, led April 19, 1911.

Specification of letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 9, i913. This application led Tune 25, 1912.

-Ser'ial No. 705,890.

To aZZ 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT H.'FISHER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lincoln, in the county of Lancaster and State otl Nebraska, have invented a new and useful Automobile-Tire, of which the following is a specification.

'l` his invention has reference to improvements in sub-casings Jfor pneumatic tires, and its object is to provide a sub-casing or reliner which may be applied to the interior of outer casings o-utside the inner tube, whereby a weakened outer casing is relieved from the strain or pressure of the inflated inner tube, and consequently the life of the outer-'casing is proportionately prolonged.

Sub-casings7 which are also known as inner tire protectors, reliners, or inner shoes, are of general tubular form adapted to Vtit the inner wall ofthe outer casing to which such a sub-casing may be applied, but as heretofore constructed such sub-casings or reliners depend almost wholly upon how well they are united tothe inner wall of the outer casing, whilethey give but little pro-` tection near the rim, at which latter point blow-outs are likely to occur, and, again, many reliners as heretofore made havel caused trouble owing to being heavy or stiff at the tread, which, while useful in the prevention of punctures, at the same time does not allow the tire to bend in at the natural place and thus cause the generation of heat resulting lin the burning out of the inner tube when anything like high speed or con-A tinuous driving is attempted. A

ln accordance with the present invention the sub-casing or reliner is so constructed that its meet-ing edges are practically together when installed in an outer casing. and the inner tube is inflated, while endless bands are provided adjacent the meeting edges of the sub-casing in such manner as to bear against the inner faces of the clencher beads of the outer casing, whereby the strain of this part of the sub-casing is brought opposite those portions of the rim designed to withstand the strain, and the outer casing is thereby eHectually-protected from blow-outs adjacent the rim.

rlhe invention will be best understood from a consider-ation of the following detailed description taken in connection with' drawin s forming a part the accompanying d .u

rawlngs 1 us- O this specification, whic trate a practical form of the invention, but since the latter is susceptible of various changes and -modications in its practical 'embodiments over and above the exact showing of the drawings., the invention is not limited to any strict compliance with such showing.

ln the drawings t--Figure l is a radial section through a pneumatic tire with the sub-casing or reliner of the present invention applied. Fig. 2 is a perspective View of a short'section of the sub-casing or reliner detached from the tire. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the bands carried by the edge portions of the sub-Casin and also showing in connection therewit a small part of a covering material which may be used for the band.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown in Fig. l a rim l which may be taken as typical of any suitable form of rim such as is used in vehicles em loying pneumatic tires, and more especialljy in automobiles, and while for convenience of illustration the rim is shown 'as of the ordinary clencher type, it will be understood that the rim may be of the quick-detachable o-r any other type. 'll here is also shown in Fig. l an outer casing 2 having the edges formed into lclencher beads 3 adapted t0 the rim l, and this casing may be taken as typical of any suitable coating of the casing 2, but it will be understood that the casing is assumed to be made in accordance with the usual practice. rThere is also shown an inner tube a designed to contain air under pressure, and this tube may also be taken as typical of any suitable inner tube, since the particular construction of either the outer casing or the innertube does not enter into the present invention.

lt often transpires that pneumatic 'tires employed on vehicles such. as automobiles become weakened by wear of the outer casing or from other causes affecting the'outer casing, so that such outer casing `can no longer withstand the pressure employed, wherefore it becomes useless and must then be discarded even though aside from its inability to withstand the internal pressure it may be capable of comparatively long use.

lit is for the purpose of extending the life of the outer casing that attachable sub-casings or reliners are provided, and while such sub-casing may be applied to the outer casing when the latter is first put into use, it is usually the c ustom to apply thensub-casing after the outer casing has become so weakened that it may no longer be safely used without the reinforcement of such subcasing, which latter is usually made of canvas or other like strong material, provided in a suitable number of layers united to form a tube open along the inner portion similar to the outer easing, so as to'be readily applied to the interior of the outer casing'and to then receive the inner tube. In

the drawings such a sub-casing or relinerisindicated at 5 and may be provided with an outer surfacing of adhesive material which will cause it to unite Vwith the inner surface of the outer casing with sufficient tenacity to maintain its union therewith. The casing is usually made of a number of layers of rubber or frictioned fabric with the plies securely vulcanized together to prevent the least chance of one slipping upon the other, for the grinding or wear which would result from such slipping would soon render the reliner useless. While not limited to any particular number of layers of fabric it is customary to employ an outer layer 6, an inner layer 7, another layer 8 outside the inner layer 7 and formed adjacent the marginal edges of the inner layer 7-into loops 9, one near each edge of the reliner, and to carry this layer back approximately to the tread portion, as indicated at 10, but stopping short of said tread portion, the terminal edges of the portion 10 of the layer 8-being indicated at 11. Between the outer layer G, the tread portion of the layer 8 and the return portions l0 of the layer 8 is another layer 12 continued'toward the edge portions of the reliner to about the loops 9, where this layer terminates, as indicated at 13. Each loop 9 ineloses an endless band 14 which may be a flat band of metal of ap, propriate gage andwidth and of frustoconical form, that is, one edge is of less diameter than the other, the edge of smaller diameter being directed toward the respective edge of the sub-casing. The band 14 may be a steel band without joint, or it may be made with a jointl of any type and may also be made of any other material than steel. but even if made with a joint it is effectively an endless band. The inner edges of the inner layer or ply 7 of the casing extend farther one toward the other than the corresponding edges of the outer layer or plyV 6, so that w'hen the sub-casing or reliner is lodged within the outer casing 2 the adjacent edges of the layer 7 are brought into close relation and into contact with the corresponding portion of the rim 1 between the inner edges of the beads 3 and thereby form a support for the corresponding portion of the inner tube 4 protecting it against contact with the rim and pinching between the inner edges of the beads 3, the projecting portions of the inner layer 7 providing at this oint but a single ply of material.

With the structure as described the bands 14 when the sub-casing or reliner is in position are brought into position opposite the beads 3, so that on the establishment of internal pressure n the inner tube the expansion of the latter tends to force the bands or strips 14 against the beads 3 and the latter against the ed es of the rim 1, thus eftectually locking t e inner edge of the subcasing or reliner against any tendency to spread and thereby sustaining the inner tube at all points so that the outer casing is well protected against bursting strains even though it be weakened .tosuch an extent that without the presence of the reliner it' would be unable to .withstand the pressure of the inner tube.

In the particular structure illustrated in the drawings the sides of the reliner from the bands 14 to near the tread portion are five-ply. The tread portion is but four-ply, since the return portions 10 of the layer 8 are not continued into the tread portion. The result of this is that the tread portion of the sub-casing or reliner is more pliable than the side portions, and, therefore, bends easily with the tire, and does not counteract the natural tendency of the latter. This is found in practice to in .a very large manner elminate extra friction which has been found to cause the burning out of the inner tube under high speed or continuous driving. At the same time the side portions of the tire are reinforced to the full extent,

'since practice has demonstrated that these side portions are particularly liable to blowouts. The fabric employed does not vulcanize to the steel bands 14 and these are in a manner loose within the loops 9. This looseness may be overcome in different ways as by eliminating the smoothness of the steel bands which may be done by roughening these steel bands or by providing them with a coating of some kind, or otherwise. A convenient manner of effectively uniting the steel bands with the fabric of the loo under the action of vulcanization is to apply to cach steel band a covering 15 of cloth sewed or otherwise tightly bound upon the band and to this the fabric of the loops 9 will readily imite during the vulcanizing process, wherefore the bands are no longer loose within the loops. but are tightly bound therein against relative displacement with respectto the loops.

, The continuation of the edges of the inner layer 7 beyond the loops 9 and the inner edges of the outer layer 6 is advantageous in providing protection for the inner tube lele Without liability of this protecting portion becomingdisplaced. It has been proposed to provide protection at this pointor the inner tube by means of, a flap carried by one side of the corresponding portion of the reliner and bridging the space to the other portion of 'the reliner, but in practice ditheulty is found in preventing displacement of Such a hap and its proper positioning. Theset'roubles are avoided by the edge continuations of the inner layer 7, which conf tinuations are in amanner stidened by the vulcanization of the impregnatingmaterial, and2 therefore, they come together in protecting relation to the correspondingportion of the inner tube.

'llhe sub-casin or reliner of the present invent-ion is ma e up of a suitable number of plies which have been rubber treated, or constituting rictioned fabric as the material is commercially known. rlhese plies are vulcanized securely together by the open steam or wrapped tread process, and they may be coated with a cement so that when in a tire such'a reliner becomes a part of the tire itseli'. lt will be noticed that thev tread portion of the reliner of the resent invention is lmore pliable than the side portions, so as to work easily with the tire instead 'ol 'being crowded bodily toward the rim, in which latter case the outer surtace moving away on slides on the inner 'lace of the outer casing and causes friction, thereby heating the tire and oftentimes ruinin the inner tube, :and many times wearing t e outer casing 'or the inner casing sulliciently to render. `either or both useless. The greater dexibility of the tread portion of the reliner also prevents the break of the tire occurring y'so lar down the side thereof where the'outer--oasing is lleast able to stand the bending. Moreover,l a the slipping of one-aurillac en the other as is liable to occur in the stid types` ci reliners causesa rolling up of small particles of dirt and rubber resulting in the inner casing creeping and tearing the inner tube at the valve stem. j

'llhe sub-casing or reliner is substantially a canvas tube split along the inner edge with the plies united against liability ol' moving one on the other, and ot a strenh to sustain the pressure of the air witin the inner tube sothat the outer casing while snugly inclosing the sub-casing is practically relieved from the pressure by the subcasing7 so that it may e used until worn out irrespective of its ability to withstand internal pressures. 'lhe dat truste-conical bands 14e are prevented by the rim from from the other, and .as these bands are always lodged within the range 'ci the rim the internal pressure is not brought to bear to any material extent u on the outer casing. 'lhe bands are sumciently wide to prevent cutting or injury sary, at least to so to either the reliner or the outer casing where by these bands. Moreover, the reliner is resistant to pressure to the full ee where the outer 'casing isleast able to stand such ressure and is more liable to be weakened y wear, and is suciently responsive to the bending of the tread portion of the tire at such tread portion of the reliner to allow lor the natural action of the tire without tendency of establishing another zone of weakness 1n the outer eas- 'llt will be understood that the plies Aol fabric `shown in the drawings are greatly exa'g rated as to thickness.

lt 1s found in practice that some tires are either under or over the re or to the tires having elong` in use. lo allow tor such'diderences which are in lar sizes, this j being due to a diderence in manufacture fact quite small, provision is made for .vary

ing the length of the bands 1d, and this may be brought about by providing each band at an 'appropriate point with a buckle i6 secured to a band and provided in the tienlar structure shown with a slot il' and a slot i8 adjacent thereto. @ne end ci? the band is passed through the slot 17 of 1t buckle and is formed into a loop 19, while other end of the band is threaded v through the 'slot l@ and by drawin on this tattening,

end to an aroriate `eut/ent and it wn, the length of the band ma slightl lessened 'while the band .is stil ztective y endless. 'llo make the buckle 16 and the other end of. the band accessible the fabric is slit :lor a short distance, say, about an inch, where the buckle coes, and that Std@ portion el' the band carrying the buckle is brought throuh to the outside of the sub' casing; Att-ac ed to the edge of the subcasing at 'the uint where the buckle is brought throng that it ma be folded back over the buckle after the attervhas been adjusted, so that is a ilap 2O so arranged,

lill@ the buckle will not come into'contact with the inside of the tire casing. rl`he bands may be adjusted in length to the very small amount necessary after the sub-casing has been put into the tire 4and beforethe tire goes on to the rim, although for over-size tires, which are either so manufactured or have stretched, adjustment will not be necesgreat an extent as when the tires are under size.

rll`his application is .a continuation in partI ol' the application led 1911, No. 622,098.

What is claimed is: 1. ln an automobile tire,` the combination with a formed outer casing having a thickened tread, of an inner or subcasing comby me April 19th,

tao

posed of superimposed united layers of abric of less number at the tread portion than at the sides.

lill@ 2. In an automobile tire, the combination with a formed outer casing having a thickened tread, of an inner or subcasing composed of superimposed united layers of fabric of less number at the tread vportion than at the sides, and the inner layer of fabric of the subcasing being continued to a substantially equal extent beyond the edge ortions of the inner casing and thereby uniting to form a bridge between the beads of the outer casing.

3. A suboasing for introduction into the formed outer casing of an automobile tire comprising super-posed layers of fabric of' substantially nonextensible and substantially even texture throughout, the number of layers at the tread portion of the subcasing being less than at the sides thereof.

il. A subcasing for introduction into a formed outer easing of an automobile tire, comprising supcrposed layers of substantially nonextensible fabric of substantially even thickness throughout, said layers comprising an inner layer of a length cross-sectionally of the subcasing to meet between the beads of the outer casing when in place therein, another layer exterior to the rst layer and having its ends returned on themselves toward the tread portion of thetire and stopping short thereof, metal bands lodged in the loops so formed in position to bear against the inner walls of the bead portions of the outer casing, another layer of fabric exterior to the rim portion of the second-named layer land traversing the tread portion of the suboasing and the sides thereof and stopping .shortl of thc metal bands, and an exterior layer of fabric extending :w1-oss the tread portion of the suboasing and along the sides and beyond the loop.L

formed by the return portions of the second-named layer to house said loop portions between the innermost and outermost layersI of the subcasing.

5. In an automobile tire, the combination with the outer casing thereof having the tread part stiffer than the side walls, of an inner or suboasing having the'tread portion of greater exibility than the side walls in substantially inverse order to the outer casing and having marginal members adapted to engage the beads of the outer casing in locking relation thereto under the action of air pressure when the tire is inflated.

6. A sub-casing for introduction into a formed out-er casing of an automobile t-ire, comprising super-posed layers of substantially nonextensible fabric of substantially even thickness throughout, said layers comprising an inner layer of a length cross-sectionally of the sub-easing to meet between the beads of the outer casing when in place therein, another layer exterior to the first layer and having its ends returned on themselves toward the tread portion of the tire and stopping short thereof, members lodged in the loops so formed in position to bear against the inner Walls of the beaded portions of the outer casing, and another layer of fabric exterior to the rim portion of the second-named layer and traversing the tread portion of the sub-easing and the sides thereof.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aiixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ALBERT H. FISHER.

Witnesses:

C. F. RIDDLE, l PEARL GIBBS. 

